Jazz guard Rodney Hood out again in Atlanta with lower leg contusion

FILE: Utah Jazz guard Rodney Hood (5) and Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks (10) sit on the bench as the Utah Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans play an NBA basketball game at Vivint arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018. Pelicans won 108-98.

His scoring ability is something that our team relies on.—Jazz coach Quin Snyder, on Rodney Hood

ATLANTA — The Utah Jazz will be without its second leading scorer tonight in Atlanta for the second straight game.

Rodney Hood has been ruled out of Monday night’s game against the Hawks with a lower leg contusion.

Hood suffered the injury during Friday’s home loss against the Knicks.

He is averaging a career-best 16.7 points with 2.9 rebounds but has been the topic of several trade rumors.

Hood has missed 10 games this season with a mid lower leg strain, left ankle soreness and now the lower leg bruise.

Jazz coach Quin Snyder said the team will miss his ability to create offense as much as anything as he’s shooting a career-high 38.6 percent from beyond the arc.

“His scoring ability is something that our team relies on,” said Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “Anytime you lose your second leading scorer and one of your best offensive scorers it can be a challenge for other guys to step up and that’s what we saw last game with Joe Ingles and Alec (Burks) but we will continue to have guys step up.”